What If The Storm Ends
by lostinbooks25
Summary: She stood and began walking toward them slowly, he was waiting for her to scream at him or hit him, anything than what she actually did. She narrowed her lavender eyes at Legolas and Gimli and promptly flicked both of them on the forehead at each word that passed her lips, "Why. Didn't. You. Come. And. Warn. Me. That. He. Was. Alive!" Aragorn/OC 10th Walker.
1. Prologue

The sun filtered in through the shutters in the large windows that lined the side of the room, the light streamed through the flower pattern carved into the shutters and made multiple flowers appear on the floor of the room. The room looked as if it was a study but on the higher level there was a large bed that had some of the finest linen covering it, usually the bed cover would be crisp and unused but at that particular time a woman was sat of the edge of it. She was the first thing that Ethorn Aguilon had noticed; his eyes were immediately drawn to her figure that seemed small in comparison to the large bed. Her long raven black hair was pinned up and her pale skin was covered with a pale blue dress.

"My Lady?"

She stood and Ethorn's eyes flickered to the swell of her stomach that seemed to want to burst through the pale blue material of her dress. She would be due any day now and the palace had been in such high expectations of another little Prince, it would be her fourth child but there was something different this time. The woman felt no sickness or discomfort; it was almost as though she wasn't with child at all.

"Ethorn," she breathed through pale pink lips in what he imagined was relief. He gave her a swift bow never breaking eye contact with her violet eyes that seemed to stare into his soul, able to pierce into his skin and veins to see what truly was there. Nothing but skin and bones he believed. But she did not.

She rolled her eyes and the corner of her lip twitched up, "Enough of the formalities Ethorn we have known each other long enough to not have to be polite to each other!"

"We have not known each other that long, Marcella."

He took a seat in one of the armchairs on the lower level where books lined the wall at the head of the room along with a fire place. He watched her as she wobbled over to the chair opposite him, when she stepped down from the higher level Ethorn went to stand to assist her but Marcella raised a delicate hand and stopped him. He relaxed in his seat when she was sitting across from him and she rested her hands on her swollen stomach and let out a slight laugh that to anyone else but Ethorn would some like a scoff.

"I've known you longer than my husband!"

"You married him as soon as you came of age, you were but a child," he leaned forward to make his point while locking eyes with her, "you are still." He whispered the last part as he sat back against the chair.

The room filled with silence as Marcella studied him, violet eyes skimming over every curve and line. He had tanned skin from travelling in the sun often and varied sizes of scars that littered his skin from training, battles, or even fights that he got himself into and when she would see him after he got a new one she would promptly flick him on the forehead with her fingers before cleaning them and healing them. He wore his usual uniform that he had worn since he swore to protect her and her family; he was the commander of the Queen's Guard and the youngest man ever to be in the position. But he had protected her before that for her father, Ethorn had been born and raised with their people and when Marcella then married to form an allegiance between them and another kind he went with her as a promise to her father. His long brown hair sat in waves past his broad shoulders and framed his-what most women called handsome-face, it was defined with a strong jaw, full lips, a light scar that curved down from above his brow to under his left eye. His body was muscular, for it would have to be as he was the commander, and he was taller than most men. His eyes were different to most of her people who had violet or purple eyes but Ethorn did not, his were a blue colour that in certain lights resembled a blue-violet colour.

Marcella turned her head to look at the lit fireplace, it burned in her eyes as a frown was wore upon her lips. "You know why I asked you here."

Ethorn sighed and ran a hand along his jaw, "It is a girl isn't it?"

Both of them closed their eyes when she nodded, Ethorn stood and began pacing before her with his fists clenching and unclenching. "Maginar is going to kill you, no, he will _maul_ you with his teeth! Once he heard of the prophecy that was made after the birth of your youngest son he threatened that if you bare a daughter he would take your head from your shoulders and burn the children as a _sacrifice!_" he scoffed and Marcella stood before him taking his face in her hands as she searched his eyes.

"What would you have me do?" she whispered "even if had a son Sauron would still come and burn our city to the ground, it is only a matter of time!"

"Then why do you stay here? Why haven't you warned anyone?" he griped her wrists and his thumb traced the triangle birth mark on her wrist.

"Because," she breathed as she leaned her forehead against his chest, "it is the only way that will make her live."

Ethorn forced her to face him, his jaw was clenched and his eyes hardened and for a second Marcella felt fear toward her friend, her dear friend. "I _will not let you die._"

"You must," she pulled away from him and looked out the window "I need you to be here for her, I need you to survive that is why I'm sending you to the lands of Men when the child has grown in four years' time."

Ethorn stared at her with scrunched eyebrows, he would not leave her, not now not ever. He would not leave his Queen. He ran a hand through his hair, he kept it long because he had never lost a battle and he would not lose this fight. He began to protest but she silenced him, "I am to die with my people and you shall be far away. Promise me that when you leave you do not look back, when she has matured she will find you and you are to guide her as you have guided me. She is our only hope."

Ethorn couldn't listen they were still children for Gods' sake but he could not disobey her. He watched her as the breeze from outside tangled its fingers in her hair and she looked at peace, he loved her and always had but he was just her servant.

He cleared his throat before asking, "And what is to be the child's name?"

"Eliana, it means daughter of the sun."

And soon the night came when the child was born, the bells had tolled in the church throughout the birth, the King was nowhere to be seen and this made the servants think strange as he had been at the births of all of his sons but then this was a girl-a Princess for the Schimbator. Ethorn had knelt at Marcella's side throughout the long night, he griped her hand and barked orders at the midwives and healers. They thought that the Queen would not make it through the birth as she had lost a lot of blood, but her stubbornness made her survive and live until the city burned.

Marcella had passed the child to Ethorn and even then he knew that she would look exactly like her mother not a trace of her father in her but the shifter genes but even then it was mild. She was the hope of the city. "_Kit_, little Kit,"He murmured to the child with lavender eyes.

"What does it mean?" Marcella asked, her chest rose and fell rapidly as her brow was covered with sweat.

"It means Hope."


	2. The Prancing Pony

Everyone was cloaked by the candle light in the pub but that was the only thing they had in common, people travelled from all over to the pub for some food or drink or even a nights rest. The atmosphere was filed with drunken voices and smoke from various pipes that made the dog that lay under the table of four hobbits wrinkle its nose, it cared not for the conversation of its owners but for the people around them. If someone got too close for comfort the dog would snarl and bare it canines at them until they would jump back in fear of the black coated dog. You wouldn't have noticed it if not for its lavender coloured eyes which seemed to burn into your soul.

The dog let out a low growl in the back of its throat as it heard Sam's words, "That fellow's done nothing but stare at you since we arrived!" the dog bared its teeth prepared to snap at the man but felt the small hand of her Master stroke her fur. "Sam, you're making Kit nervous"

"She has every right to be nervous!" Sam whispered back to his friend not liking being watched by the strange man, it made him uneasy. Kit shuffled closer to him and nuzzled her nose into his leg in an attempt to calm him but she kept her eyes focused on the stranger. She tried to catch his face when he would breathe in the smoke from the pipe that sat in his mouth causing it to lit up his face but he had his hood pulled over his face far enough that you could only see his mouth.

She had rolled her eyes when Pippin went to get himself a pint, _drunken fool_. Her ears which were pointed, turned slightly to listen to Frodo's conversation with Barliman, Frodo after all was her Master and Gandalf had told her to protect him at all costs.

"Excuse me." Frodo asked as he tapped Barliman on the shoulder, "That man in the corner. Who is he?"

All eyes moved toward the man as Barliman answered him, "He's one of them rangers. They're dangerous folk, they are. Wandering the wilds. What his name right name is, I've never heard, but round here, he's known as Strider."

Kit had known a ranger once in her adolescent years, he had been protecting the borders of the shire, watching for anything unusual. She had been in her dog form for so many years that she almost forgot how it felt to be in her own skin. Some in The Shire knew of what she was but they never spoke of it out loud, she had been brought to Bilbo Baggins' house when she was but four years old and was fostered by him until the day of his 111th birthday when he miraculously disappeared without word or warning only a ring left in his place. When she had laid eyes on the ring it had made her stomach turn and it seemed as though fear had sunken its teeth into her skin like a snake.

She shifted further out from under the table when she heard Pippin exclaim, "Baggins? Sure I know a Baggins! He's over there. Frodo Baggins! He's my second cousin once removed on his mother's side and my third cousin twice removed on his father's side, if you follow me." She gave a whine at his drunkenness as Frodo's body went tense and he rushes to Pippin's side and grabs his arm.

"Pippin!"

"Steady on!" Pippin laughs as he shakes Frodo's hand off his arm only for him to step back and trip on someone's foot, Kit snarls as her eyes catches the glint of the ring soar in the air above him before falling towards him and onto his finger.

She lets out a yelp as he disappears before everyone's eyes, all the hobbits freeze around her and she could feel Strider shift from his seat. Time seemed to have stopped as shock seeped into the bodies of the hobbits while Kit stared at the space where her master was. _How could she have failed Gandalf already? They haven't even been gone from the shire for long!_

Time resumed its pace when the rest of the bar carried on in their drunkenness thinking that it had all been a trick of the light. It was then that Kit noticed through the loud laughter and carry on of the pub that the man named Strider was no longer in his chair, Kit nipped Sam's leg in an attempt to get his attention as both their eyes caught Strider carried a bundle that could only be called Frodo.

Sam leapt to his hairy feet with Merry and Pippin in tow as they rushed up the stairs after them, they cared not for their turn over stools from their rush but for the danger that they friend may be in. Kit snarled and bark at anyone who came close to the stairs after them as she soundlessly slinked after her company.

She did not question their motives when they thoughtlessly pick up nearby stools and candle sticks, and she wonder if they could do any damage to a Ranger while she only had to use her teeth as a weapon in this form. The hobbits stopped in the middle of the hallway of doors unsure of which their friend's capturer took him through until Kit's ears perked up at the sound of Frodo's soft voice came through one of the doors, she scraped her paw against the one on the left and Sam took no hesitation in flinging the door open.

It took half a second for Strider to pull of his sword and point it in their direction as they pushed themselves in to the room, stools and candle sticks held up threateningly with the hound at their waist snapping her jaws at the Ranger, snarling violently as though she had gone rapid.

"Let him go!" Sam bellowed with his candlestick raised in his fist, "Or I'll have you Longshanks!"

Strider seemed to step back from the three hobbits and dog, and Kit noticed that he stood like a proud man as he placed his sword in his sheath and it made her gums expose a little more of her teeth.

"You have a stout heart little hobbit, but that will not save you," he turned his gaze to her, "Your dog seems to have the same problem that you have Frodo, it draws too much attention to itself, may it be best to leave it behind."

The hobbits began to protest but as Strider turned to snuff out two more candles, he felt a blade at his neck-below the stubble across his jaw. He turned his grey eyes towards the owner of the blade to find a woman standing not to steps from him, "If you offend my Master again I can make no promises to what will happen to you," she seethed as she bared her teeth at him.

Strider saw truth in her lavender eyes and he realised that she was the dog, a skin-changer but not quite, when she turned from dog form to people form she was clothed unlike skin-changers and was able to carry weapons. But she was the dog none the less with her striking eyes and long black hair, her stance said that she was not afraid and the atmosphere around her suggested that she was a soldier. If anything he would not have expected her to be a servant.

"Kit! He bares me no harm!" Frodo's frantic voice came from her side as small hands tugged at her dark green shirt.

"Take caution Ranger, for if you harm a single hair on any of these hobbits I will kill you myself." She growled before giving him a shove with the flat side of her blade. He hardly stumbled but he heeded her word and while ignoring her glares advises Frodo. "You can no longer wait for the wizard Frodo. They are coming."


	3. Apples and Worries

She didn't sleep while they travelled, she would only take short naps when it was day time and when the hobbits were awake, her eyes seemed to follow every movement that Aragorn made and the twisting in her gut never settled. They only spoke when necessary and it had begun to make the hobbits agitated, and it was Sam who was first to voice their uneasiness.

"I know I'm not Strider's biggest fan but you seem to harbour a special hatred for him," he whispered it to her while they were preparing breakfast, Kit was shaping a small fire as Sam began to cut up some vegetables. A sound escaped her lips that resembled a scoff, "I do not hate him."

The other hobbits were chatting amongst themselves while they packed up camp with Strider who, as Kit had forgotten, seemed to be able to hear all. "Then why are you almost violent towards him?" as Strider attempted to listen sharper to their murmurs, Kit looked up and caught his eye. She looked away and busied herself with the sticks in her hands before she answered, "I hardly even know him, he could be a great person but," she faltered and Sam looked at her expectantly causing her to sigh "I know what people like him are like."

"You've met a Ranger before?" his voice was almost excited and his eyes widened slightly, he had only ever met hobbits and the most exotic thing he had ever met was Gandalf.

She gave him a stiff nod, "It was many years ago," As she spoke she could see Strider stiffen out of the corner of her eye but she thought nothing of it, "Maybe I'm bitter because it looks like Gandalf sent him because he believed that we weren't capable of looking after him."

With a motion with her hands the fire lit and Sam quickly placed the food over it, but it was evident that her words had affected him. She placed a pale hand on his shoulder and gave him a rare smile, "Strider may not be so bad, he did after all complement your braveness."

Sam let out a soft chuckled, "He's a strange fellow isn't he?"

Kit let out a laugh and nodded as she stood to rally the others to breakfast. She gave Frodo a squeeze on the shoulder as she walked past him and towards her own pack, she had noticed that his dreams seem to haunt him now more than ever before. He had awoken more than once to Kit's worried gaze, if it had just been them back at Bag End she would have sung to him like she has since they were children but now Strider has made her place her guards up.

"He watches you."

Kit stopped with her pack in her hands; she turned her head to find Frodo looking at her with such innocence only a child could have. She gave him an uneasy smile, "What are you talking about?"

"Strider, since we've started out on this journey he keeps watching you almost as though if he looks away even for a moment you may disappear."

She felt the twisting in her gut intensify, it was the sickening feeling of forgetting something and Kit felt as though they must have met before but it was impossible. The thought of it made her laugh. She tried to give him a reassuring smile as she pulled her pack over her shoulder, his unwavering gaze caused her to scratch the area on her arm that always seemed to be covered.

"He looks at you the same way Frodo, it will not do you well to worry on such things and I am here to worry about you it's not the other way around." She breathed out a laugh as she closed the space between them and pulled him towards the others so he could get his fill of breakfast. She caught Strider staring at the place on her arm she was scratching and she immediately stopped and stole a piece of bacon from Pippin's plate. He almost lunged at her to take it back but she placed it between her teeth with a smile causing the hobbits to chuckle and Pippin to mutter before continuing to scoop food into their mouths.

She dreaded the moment when the hobbits eating schedule would be announced to Strider but it seemed the cold and rain they had to travel through had silenced them. Strider kept to the front while she rounded the back of the line, as they travelled up the top of hills Kit noticed the frost that covered the ground around their feet which caused them to have to slow down and was about to voice her concerns on the safety when her feet betrayed her and her right foot slipped on a piece of ice with the intent of sending her backwards down the hill they had just climbed when a hand gripped her wrist. The hood of her cloak flew off her head and her foot slammed back down on the down, she reached her other hand out to wrap around the person's wrist and she crouched slightly to regain her balance. The smell of ice and leathers filled her nostrils and for once she was glad that she was a dog shifter which gave her quick reflexes.

She gazed up and caught the grey eyes of Strider before her, how he got to her so quickly was beyond her but she was grateful despite her better judgement. They were both breathing heavily and their breath clouded in front of their lips from the cold, the sound of clattering echoed around them but it was Strider who broke the silence between them.

"I should have warned about the ice; that was a mistake on my part, my lady."

Kit wretched her hands free from his touch and with disgust on her tongue she spoke, "I am no Lady."

With that she pushed past him and stood off to the side of the group staring at the world about her. Her arm ached and burned causing her to pull her lip between her teeth, she clenched her fists in anger. _Weak, he has made me weak and haunts me still_, she thought bitterly, _he has made me cold and unfeeling_. She did not trust rangers anymore not after him.

"I did not mean to offend." Strider stood next to her and she did not have to look at him to know that he was staring at her arm that she was gripping so hard.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead with her thumb as her shoulders slumped, "I am not used to social interactions outside of my master and his friends, so it is I who offends you."

_Why did Strider have to be so kind? Why could he not be like others and scold her with cruel words like the mutt she is. _

He was still eyeing her arm, "What is wrong with your-"

She cut him off, "We should keep going."

He nodded and they began to continue their travelling over the hills, it was when an apple tree appeared before her that she realised that Strider had paused a few steps back. He looked in bewilderment at the hobbits who cluttered around each other with pots and pans, clearly about to cook another meal for the day. Kit let out groan and leaned her head in her hand as she clenched her eyes shut, this is what she had been dreading all morning.

"Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall."

They all looked up at him in confusion, "What about breakfast?" Pippin cried.

Strider furrowed his brow, he turned to look at Kit, who shrugged at him with a slight grimace of a smile, only to look back to Pippin in confusion. "You've already had it."

"We've had one yes. What about second breakfast?"

Strider frowned whilst shaking his head he turned and walked toward Kit and disappeared between the bushes before her and curiosity got the better of her so she followed. She watched as he pulled apples off the branches of the trees and it only took her a moment before she joined him and began plucking at the apples. She could hear the hobbits moving about and almost smell Pippin's panic, she let out a small laugh as she pulled her long black hair into a bun causing Strider to send her a look. "If only you knew how much of their little bodies stomach is," she chuckled and she could see him smile to himself as he tossed her an apple.

"Don't think he knows about second breakfast Pippin." Merry spoke as they packed their things again. Their voices carried over the bushes and Kit shook her head with a smile, oh how much Pippin will have to get used to!

"What about elevenses? Luncheon, Afternoon Tea, Dinner? Supper! He knows about them, doesn't he?" Pippin cried with worry.

"I wouldn't count on it."

Kit watched in humoured horror as Strider tossed an apple over the bush and her sensitive eyes caught the loud _thunk!_ It made as it met Pippin's skull.

"You like showing off don't you?" Kit teased.

Strider chuckled softly, glad that her spirits were high and the haunted look that she wore had disappeared. He wondered why Gandalf had lied to him so many years ago but he would have to wait until they reached Rivendell and told Arwen about it to understand.


End file.
